Partners Are Blood
by obsessedwithstabler
Summary: Partners are blood. They're family, friends, and everything in between. They're a late night phone call, a helping hand, and the best medicine that you can have.


Okay, I wrote this when I was inspired by Marion The Geek's story Of Fear, Love And City Buses, and PoppyB's story To The Bone. They both write so well, and inspired me to write my own injured partner story. Here ya go!

Disclaimer: They're not mine! They're not mine!

This story is dedicated to Confused, and Marion and PoppyB, for the inspiration. Thanks, girls!

He groaned as the phone chirped noisily in his ear, and he rolled over in the bed and grabbed the squawking piece of plastic, flipping it open as he grumbled, "Goren."

_Hello, this is Luke Jordan at Mercy General. I'm calling about Alex Eames_, a deep voice stated, and all sleep was gone from Bobby as he bolted upright in his bed.

"Alex. Is she okay? Is she hurt?" _Of course she's hurt, you idiot_, he thought, mentally smacking himself. _The hospital wouldn't be calling in the middle of the night if she was fine and dandy!_

_Sir, you're listed on her records as her emergency contact,_ Jordan stated, and an irrepressible shiver went down Bobby's spine._ We need you to come down here right away._

"What happened to her?" Bobby asked shakily.

_Miss Eames received a gunshot wound. I'm sorry, but I can't say anything else until you come up here, sir_, Jordan stated, but Bobby was already pulling his jeans on over his boxers. He mumbled a thank you into the phone, then dropped it onto the bed and yanked a shirt over his head.

He shoved his shoes on, then grabbed his cell and keys before running out of his apartment, slamming the door behind himself.

After three near accidents and two ran stop signs, Bobby finally pulled into the crowded parking lot of Mercy General. His legs were trembling as he slammed the car door shut and ran through the double doors of the hospital entrance.

He scanned the waiting room and spotted the intake nurse, who was reading a file in her hand. "Excuse me, I need to find Alex Eames," Bobby stated, and the woman looked at him before flipping through another file.

"Are you a relative?" the nurse asked, and Bobby sighed and flashed his badge at her.

"Alex is my partner, and I need to see her, now," he growled, and the unfazed nurse pointed down the hall and said, "Exam room three."

He didn't even think to thank her as he shoved his badge back into his pocket and took off down the hall, his heart pounding viciously against his ribcage. He had no idea what to expect. Images of machines, blood and consent forms flooded through his mind, along with images of a wounded Alex Eames, each worse than the last.

He finally reached the third door, which was really a large area separated by curtains for privacy, and he skidded to a stop. With a deep gulp of air, he carefully pushed the curtain back, and nearly fell to his knees at the sight that greeted him.

"Jesus, Bobby, you look like hell," Alex smirked, and Bobby took a wobbly step forward, drinking in the sight in front of him. Alex was sitting on a steel table in a tank top and jeans, and a doctor was attempting to stitch up a hole in her left bicep.

"You're okay," he breathed, and she giggled and reached her right hand out, placing it on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Bobby," she murmured warmly, and the doctor glared at her.

"Please hold still, Miss Eames," he pleaded, and she rolled her eyes and removed her hand from Bobby's shoulder, laying it in her lap again. They waited in silence until the doctor was finished, and Alex laid back on the table with an exaggerated sigh.

The doctor looked at a very confused Bobby and said, "She was hit by a single bullet. Went straight through. She'll need pain killers and plenty of rest, but she'll be just fine. Are you her ride home?"

He nodded, and the doctor said, "Well, I'm going to write her a prescription for Codene and get the release forms, then you can take her home." Bobby nodded and thanked him, and the doctor disappeared, leaving Bobby alone with his injured partner. Rules and customs abandoned, he walked alongside the steel table, a small smirk crossing his lips as he realized that her eyes were shut and her breathing was deep and even.

"Eames," he whispered, bravely dragging his fingertips along her uninjured arm. The sight of the bandage that covered her bicep made his stomach roll, but he focused on the pink in her cheeks and the slight part that her lips created as she took each soft breath. "Alex."

Her eyelids fluttered open, and she looked up at him in confusion. "Bobby?... What're you doing here?" she asked, a slight slur to her voice. He smiled and helped her sit up, then hoisted himself onto the table beside her.

"Alex, you want to tell me why I got a call at three in the morning from some doctor in a hospital telling me that my partner had been shot?" he asked softly, and she groaned and pressed her right palm against her eyes.

"Umm... There was a kid in on the sidewalk, and some guy came up with a gun. Hit me before I could get my gun out," she mumbled, resting her head against his broad shoulder.

He was about to ask another question when a nurse appeared and handed Bobby the necessary items, and he stood up and said, "Come on, Eames. Let's get you home." She lowered herself to the cold tile, and he caught her against his broad chest when she stumbled and started to fall. She giggled when she landed safely in his arms, and he looked at the nurse, who mouthed _Pain killers._

He nodded in understanding and helped Alex to stand upright again, then wrapped his arm securely around her slender waist. "Let's get you out of here," he said, and she giggled again in response and returned her head to his shoulder, which he was beginning to realize that he liked.

BABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABA

"We're here," Bobby stated softly, and Alex stirred and began fumbling with her seatbelt, her movements limited by her arm. Bobby finally reached over and undid the belt, but as he withdrew his hand, it accidentally brushed against the swell of her breasts, and they both gasped softly. The reaction below his belt maddened him, and even in her haze, she could feel her nipples bud into hard pebbles.

They sat like that for several seconds, until Bobby nervously cleared his throat and led her up into her apartment.

He followed her inside, smiling as she kicked off her shoes and fell face first onto her couch. He knelt down beside her, one large hand resting on her back as he leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Don't you want to sleep in the bed?"

She lifted her head, and their eyes met, both refusing to back down. Slowly, her head inched forward, and everything in him screamed that this was wrong as they were drawn closer and closer by some unseeable force. She slowly sat upright, never breaking the contact as she came closer and closer to him, until their lips brushed together for the first time.

He broke it quickly, but she wrapped her right arm around his neck and pulled him back to her, her tongue slowly running along his lower lip until he opened his mouth and allowed her access, planting his left hand on the floor to keep him stable as their tongues dueled. His right hand reached up and tangled itself in her hair, and she groaned as she tugged at him until he was lying on top of her, his right hand on the back of the couch and his left beside her hip, holding him just above her as the kiss became more passionate, more desperate.

"We can't," he moaned into her mouth, and she shook her head and buried her right hand in his hair, pulling him closer to her. He broke the kiss, and she looked at him with molten eyes. "Eames, we can't. Not right now."

"Fine," she huffed, though he could see a hint of a smirk on her beautiful lips. He started to get up, but she grabbed him and held him against her with more strength than he thought possible. "You get to be my blanket, though, cause I'm not going in there, and you're not going anywhere. Got it?"

He was too stunned to argue with her, so he shifted until he was certain that he wouldn't crush her, and she sighed contentedly, running her right hand over his back as she closed her eyes slowly.

Once he was certain that she was asleep, he slowly rose up off of her, then covered her with an afghan that was hanging on the back of the couch. Smiling at her sleeping form, he paused before leaning down to kiss her cheek. Then he pulled off his shoes and walked into her bedroom.

Rain pounding against her window stirred Alex out of her drug induced sleep, and she groaned, reaching around for her partner. When she realized that he wasn't there, she wondered if it had all been a hallucination, and she pushed herself to her feet and stumbled into her bedroom. Her eyes half closed, she relied on muscle memory as she crawled up into the bed, and she heard a muted groan as she fell onto the mattress, or what she thought was the mattress.

The bed was strangely warm, and she nearly gasped when she saw her partner sleeping in the middle of the bed, buried under all of her blankets and sheets. She grinned and yawned, then crawled under the blankets with him, smiling as he reached out in his sleep and wrapped two strong arms around her, pulling her into his chest.

Her arm stung a little, but she ignored it and buried her face in his chest and sighed happily. Her last conscious thought as she drifted off to sleep in his strong arms was that maybe last night had been worth it after all...

The End

A/N: So, pretty cute, huh? Oh, and I updated my profile today! If you think you're a 90's kid, go on over and find out for sure! Thanks for reading!


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